1947 Beechcraft V35A Bonanza ($29,500)

Ever see the Disney movie Planes? I have. Over and over and over. It’s a great movie. A remake of Disney’s Cars but in the sky. They even made the Skipper, Dusty’s trainer, sound like Paul Newman who was the Hudson Hornet in Cars. I guess when a formula works, wash, rinse, repeat.Anywhoooo, I started to wonder how much planes cost. I’m assuming the movie did an equally specific and correct job in representing planes as they did the cars. Each one with the correct sounds, engine specs, wheels, wings, whatever. The movie Cars hired in an expert to develop the characters, so probably did Planes. As such, looking at the props, hearing the engines, seeing the shapes, watching them fly was enticing.

What kind of car-money buys a plane? Around $20-30K starts to get you into a vintage one. But unlike cars that could be anyone’s handy work for repair or lack-thereof, plane ads are fascinating to read. They talk about log books, hours since overhauls, inspection reports, and mechanicals/instruments I could only hope to understand. This plane actually went back to the factory for airframe testing 52 years after production. Can you imagine if everyone cared enough about classic cars to keep them up this way? Can you imagine a car that falls out of the sky and kills you if don’t maintain it properly? Yeah me either. “Continental E-225-8 Engine (225 HP), Serial #80712 D-5-8, Large cooling fins Last Overhaul 9-6-83 1662 Hours Since Major Overhaul Two spare engines available

Hartzell 2 Blade Prop Model HC-12x20-7C10 Hours Total Time Since New

The owner was a test pilot for North American Aviation after WWII and has owned this aircraft since 1954. He owns an aviation manufacturing firm that has built aux fuel tanks and speed kits for thousands of Beech, Piper, and Navion aircraft. His reputation as a Beech Bonanza expert is well known on the West Coast, so much so that the Beechcraft company had the owner bring this aircraft to the Wichita factory in 1999 to undergo full low frequency airframe testing (non-destructive). These electronic tests were not available when the aircraft was initially designed and the data gathered was used to substantiate the tremendous strength of the 1947-1951 year aircraft, and resulted in the removal of the V-tail airspeed restriction on these Model 35, A and B aircraft. The Beechcraft factory went through the airframe to ensure all components met factory spec, and replaced any worn components. There is not a more thoughly inspected early model Bonanza airframe on the marketplace today. In addition, a new Hartzell two blade propellor was installed after the aircraft was returned to Torrance, California. The aircraft has been in hangared dry storage since 2009.”